


Chemistry

by BluBooThalassophile



Series: HfaB Universe [12]
Category: DCU, The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, M/M, Romance, School Dances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 07:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluBooThalassophile/pseuds/BluBooThalassophile
Summary: It's the Winter Formal, he's just taking a friend because he feels that Bart's in need of feeling normal. It wasn't like it was a date or anything, nothing could come of this.





	1. Unknown Feelings

Bart would admit he didn’t know what he was so nervous about. It was just Jaime, Jaime Reyes!

Okay, it was because it was Jaime Reyes that he was… mode. Jaime with his dark eyes, that black hair, handsome face, and dreamy eyes. So dreamy! Bart didn’t even know what dreamy was but since hearing Zachary Zatara describe Raven as ‘dreamy’ Bart had to admit that it worked well for describing Jaime.

Not that Bart was ever going to be stupid enough to say ‘dreamy’ aloud. Zach had when Raven walked by in her mini-shorts, and her guard had heard it. Yeah, Bart had learnt yet another lesson as Jason Todd had kicked Zach’s ass, publicly, openly, and in front of all of them for calling Raven ‘dreamy’. Apparently, it was inappropriate, and Raven hadn’t even heard the comment.

It also didn’t help that his grandmother had clarified what a crush was. Further debilitating Bart as there was a name for the weird affliction he felt whenever in the presence of one Jaime Reyes.

Bart had been secretly concerned that he was dying, or something, or that Jaime was a disease. A terrifying thought, which had been put to rest by his grandmother. Iris had clarified what crushes were and since then Bart was hopeless with Jaime.

But that brought him to today as he nervously walked through the El Paso mall with Jaime, and his sister Milagro.

It wasn’t exactly a break from the Titans, but the Titans weren’t parents nor were they a school, and Jaime’s civilian friends had invited him to the Winter Formal, which Bart had no idea was about, and Jaime in turn had invited him. Iris had insisted he go, saying that Central City would still be there, and she didn’t need him, and that the whole Flash family would be there for the holidays, and he needed to hang out with kids his age, as she ushered him out of the house. Bart didn’t get what that was about, but Jay and Joan had also insisted that he go to this Winter Formal.

So here Bart was, in El Paso, Texas, which had only been a thirty minute run from Central City, Missouri.

“This is a waste of time, sis,” Jaime whined.

“You’re going to the Winter Formal, you need tuxes!” Milagro snapped.

“You’re not going,” Jaime pointed out as he ruffled his little sister’s hair only for her to swat him back.

“That’s not the point!” she snapped, Bart thought it comical as Milagro was so small. She was a fiery tempered, slightly spoiled, a bit bratty girl, but he thought her entertaining all the same.

“¿Para qué sirve?” Jaime asked.

“What if _BART_ doesn’t have a tux?” she demanded shrilly.

“What’s a tux?” he whispered to Jaime.

“Cruel and unusual punishment,” was Jaime’s answer. The bug chirped a bit, Bart assumed in agreement.

“Idon’tneedatux!” he blurted out then. He’d had enough cruel and unusual punishment.

“Hermano, you need one for a Winter Formal,” Jaime replied softly.

“But…!” he started only for Milagro to grab his wrist and Jaime as she dragged them along.

* * *

 

 Jaime had decided to take Bart with him from the Winter Formal, as the future apparently doesn’t have Winter Formals.

Bart was kind of weird. But hey, Jaime had met weirder. His Titans Team Captain was an interdimensional demon, her brother was a giant cyborg, her father was imprisoned in a gem on her brow, and she had all the Bats on her speed dial. And **_that_** was just his Team Captain. Do Not Get Him Started On His Teammates!

So, in terms of weirdness he didn’t think Bart was horribly out of character. Just an odd one. One who wasn’t making many friends.

Bart was pretty cool though. Energetic, excited and happy, also never ceasing curiosity, and this… distance. Jaime just wanted Bart to feel at home in this era, and he clearly wasn’t. Despite everything that though, Bart always seemed lonely. Jaime didn’t get that. Bart was the friendliest people he had ever met.

Also, Bart had these eyes, pure gold, Jaime liked looking at them and felt he could watch them for hours. His auburn companion never sat still long enough for him to make a fool of himself though. Gracias a dios!

Jaime was a bit worried, he had a tendency to get distracted whenever Bart was involved, and he really liked Bart. Like really **_liked_**.

He was well aware of HOW he liked Bart, he just didn’t really know what to do about it as Bart was the best friend he had ever had. And Jaime was keen on embarrassing himself with admitting he had a crush on Bart when Bart probably thought he was just a friend. Besides that, Jaime wasn’t sure he wanted to have that talk with his parents.

Ever.

Jaime was perfectly content leaving his feelings for Bart alone.

Even as his brat sister dragged them through the mall for the men’s clothing store for tuxes.

“You two do not get to ruin this by not dressing up!” Milagro snapped.

“Fine! Fine! Deja de tirar!” he snapped pulling from her grasp.

Milagro stuck her tongue out.

“Are sisters always this pushy?” Bart sighed.

“Don’t you have a sister?”

“No,” Bart grimaced. Jaime felt like kicking himself as if he had just stepped into a mess he didn’t know about. “But that’s okay!”

“You’re cool Bart, I like you,” Milagro decided as they walked into the store. Jaime and the bug weren’t happy about the arrival which had Jaime groaning. “And you’re totally coming to my Quinceañera.”

“What’s a Quinceañera?” Bart asked.

Milagro giggled hysterically as she walked off.

“It’s her fifteenth birthday party,” Jaime filled in.

“Oh, crash,” Bart grinned. Jaime felt a bit of heat rising to his cheeks as he looked away and started looking at the shirts and jackets.

“You’ll come,” Jaime said. It wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah, sounds crash,” Bart decided.

“Cool,” Jaime smiled as he looked over at Milagro walking towards them with shirts.


	2. Laughing & Unspeakable

 Tuxes were not Bart’s thing. Nope. They were worse than the uniforms from the camps! How anyone could stand them was beyond him because he felt like tearing off all the stifling material and walking out of here naked. Of course he wouldn’t do that as he tried to hold still as Milagro fussed with his tie of hell.

Jaime just stood there looking amused, which had Bart wanting to rush up and hide behind Jaime to get away from Milagro.

“Do you ever hold still!?” Milagro huffed.

“Uh…” he started.

“Bart has severe ADHD, Milagro, he’s hyperactive all the time,” Jaime blurted out for him.

Bart just stared dumbly at the other and wondered what that meant, and Jaime gave him a look telling him to go with it or else. So Bart nodded vigorously in agreement as he made a mental note to ask what ADHD was.

“Oh, well… take a look!” Milagro smiled then as she stepped back and Bart looked in the department store mirror. “What do you think!?”

Bart stared at himself in partial horror at the sight before him. It wasn’t that it was ugly, just… unexpected. “I look ridiculous.”

“You’re handsome!” Milagro pouted.

“Thanks, but I look like a Wayne or something!” Bart blurted out. The Wayne boys might have been the Bat heroes, but they were always plastered on magazines and stuff in these ridiculous outfits he had never actually seen them wear.

“Good, now that that’s done, I think you should go with the yellow tie! Brings out your eyes!” she giggled as she skipped away, and Bart groaned.

“Do I have to wear this!?” he whined.

“It’s a Winter Formal, hermano, sí, you have to wear it,” Jaime chuckled. “Relax, it’s not that bad.”

“Easy for you to say, I feel like I can’t move!” Bart grumbled.

“I’ll get us Big Belly Burger,” Jaime offered.

“Fine, I’ll wear it!” he promised then. There was one good thing about this time, and it was the fact that the infamous Big Belly Burger existed.

“The ladies will swoon for you,” Jaime predicted with a chuckle.

“I don’t care about the chicks,” Bart admitted bluntly. He felt his face heating up though as he stared nervously at Jaime who just chuckled.

“Good hermano! Chicas are a lot of work.”

“People are work,” Bart laughed and smiled at his reflection.

“That they are, now come on, lets pay for it and go to Big Belly Burger before Milagro decides to buy you a new wardrobe,” Jaime said.

“What’s wrong with my clothes!?” Bart demanded.

“Nothing! Just hand-me-downs, hermano,” Jaime chuckled. Bart frowned, he happened to be alright with Wally’s, Wallace’s, and the thrift shop clothes Jay and Joan had gotten him. No one ever had done things like that for him before, it was kind of nice. Also, it beat the other option. There was a slash of pain in his heart as he remembered how different it was here from where he was from. It was good.

* * *

 

Jaime wasn’t super rich, and he was perfectly happy with thrift store shopping, he liked his clothes broken in. He liked working in the garages, he liked living in El Paso, he liked the desert, the grime, the work, the schooling, and just being here. He didn’t care about the money, yet, he did have hopes of going to college and then he’d worry about it.

Bart on the other hand, just seemed so in awe of everything that clothes seemed to awe him. And Jaime thought it both odd and cute, because Bart reverently took care of his clothes.

Now they were walking, without Milagro who had run off when she saw a group of her school friends, and Bart had a brand new tux, to Big Belly Burger.

“I’ve never had something completely new,” Bart said.

“Not even from when you’re from?” Jaime said.

“Definitely not then,” Bart grimaced.

“What’s it like then?” he asked softly.

“I have two uncles, who kind of run the family, keep us together. I got another, he’s pretty cool, I have an aunt, she’s strong, like really strong, and I don’t know… we’re just trying not to fall apart most the time,” Bart said softly.

“Is that why you came back in time?” Jaime asked and Bart stopped then.

“No,” he whispered.

“Whoa, Hermano! I didn’t mean to…” Jaime started when Bart stood there trembling.

“I… I have to go,” Bart disappeared into a blinding edge of lightning and color and Jaime kicked himself again for poking at something that clearly upset Bart. Jaime ordered himself Big Belly Burger, sent a text to Bart and just sat there staring out the window at El Paso.

He didn’t get Bart. There, he’d admit it, he didn’t get what Bart had lived through, he didn’t get what Bart’s future world was like, and he did not understand why Bart looked like he was about to break down and cry. He did however, have a cellphone and he pulled up is contacts. Carefully he thought about what he was going to say before he slowly started texting the speedster, reading it over he felt that that was a good enough apology before sending it. He just had to wait, because Bart didn’t understand texting and would likely show up in a bit to say something.

A while took the fries and burger, half the shake before there was a blast of wind and power and Bart was sitting across from him.

“I…” Bart started. “I can’t talk about why I came back. And I can’t go home.”

“That’s terrible,” he admitted.

“I just miss my family,” he admitted.

“I get that, so I promise, no more questions,” Jaime smiled as he offered his peace offering.

“Thanks, that’s crash,” Bart smiled.

“Good, and I said we were having Big Belly Burger so go order, just no Flash size meal!” Jaime offered and the speedster was up and at the counter placing his order.

Jaime really liked days like this as Bart sat across from him and animatedly explained what had been going on before the tux shopping.


	3. Thoughtlessly Thoughtful

The night of the winter formal came in a whirl wind of excitement for his mamá was bustling about as Jaime tried not to fidget with his tie. The bug chirped unhelpfully at points when someone moved to fast, but overall, he endured his mamá’s fussing with minimal hassle.

Jaime stood in his room right now, fixing his tie up when Milagro marched in with purpose in her eyes.

“Hermanita, I’m busy,” Jaime warned her, he was trying to remember how the fox chased the rabbit to make his tie work.

“Does Bart know you like like him?” Milagro asked, and Jaime froze, the material of his tie slipping from his fingers as the bug chirped dangerously then, and he looked panickedly at his sister in the mirror. Jaime knew his mamá wouldn’t care, but papá…

Papá was a proud man, and Jaime knew how his papá looked at people like him. It wasn’t good to be different, his papá didn’t mind the bug, but if Jaime liked boys… he dreaded that talk. He didn’t want his papá to be disappointed in him, and he didn’t want the worst reaction to happen and he’d have to move to the Titan’s Tower if the worst happened.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Milagro,” Jaime stated firmly. Trying to keep his cool so the bug didn’t lose it’s shit.

“You can tell me!” Milagro insisted.

“No estoy hablando de esto ahora ni nunca.” He snapped.

“You should! He’s cute and he’s totally into you!”

“Milagro!” Jaime snapped spinning on her. “I Do Not Like BART!”

“Lo que sea mentiroso,” she rolled her eyes.

“I am not lying! Get out of my room I have to get ready!” Jaime barked as he shoved her off his bed and out of his room with a defiant slamming of his door. His family might be modern. His mamá would still love him, and Milagro might not care, but his papá was a different matter. And Jaime had barely started mending fences between himself and his papá with how the bug always reacted to his papá! He wasn’t running it!

Leaning on his door he closed his eyes.

He liked Bart. Bart was cute. Bart was fun. Bart understood him. Bart was his best friend. Jaime wasn’t ruining his life because of a simple crush.

Also, despite what Milagro thought, he didn’t know if Bart even liked him.

* * *

 

Bart looked himself over carefully and looked at his sneakers as he walked into the kitchen now.

“You look so handsome!” Joan praised him with a smile, looking him over in delight.

“Very mature,” Jay agreed with a smile, as he looked over his glasses.

“This is ridiculous,” Bart announced. “Totally crashes the mode,” he stated firmly as he folded his arms in a huff. Even his hair was combed back, Tim had said that’s what one was supposed to do for these parties.

“Well, I want pictures,” Joan stated picking up a camera.

“What!?’ he sputtered, feeling his cheeks heat up as he stepped back from the range of the camera.

“Yes, to mark this moment! You’re growing into a fine young man!” Joan praised and he grinned now, shoving his hands into his pockets. There was a flash he didn’t see, but heard, as he indulged her picture wants.

Then he bolted to the Reyes house, snatching some flowers as he neared; he’d been told by Kon that was the right thing to do, and he didn’t trip as he stopped on their front steps. The house was old, one story, looked a little tired but homey as he walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Rocking on his toes he waited a bit, wondering how it was he had agreed to come to the Winter Formal.

The door opened, the light spilling over him and he stared at a lean man, who had greying hair and Jaime’s eyes. He smiled brightly as he tried not to rock on his feet; his uncle had pointed out that it was an unbecoming habit.

“Hey, I’m here for Jaime to go to the Winter Formal!” he said, he was kind of excited about this, but he was trying really hard not to quiver about it.

“¿Qué?…” the man started in stunned tone.

“Is that Bart, oh, yes,” a woman appeared, she was rather slight of build with greying black hair.

“I was told to get flowers,” he said holding them out for the woman.

“¡Qué amor! Come in, Jaime’s almost ready,” she said taking the flowers.

“Kay,” he said nervously as he walked into the house. It was lived in, he could see that, things were old but cared for.

“I’m Bianca and this is Alberto,” she announced reappearing with a vase.

“Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Reyes,” he said. His uncles had drilled manners through his skull before he had ever even left the mainstream timeline of his future.

“Tipo!” Jaime exclaimed.

“He brought you flowers,” Bianca said.

Jaime shot a nervous glance at his dad then smiled at Bart. “You shouldn’t have, hermano.”

“Iris told me to bring them!” he defended.

“Uh-huh,” Jaime rolled his eyes slinging his arm around Bart’s shoulders.

“Wait I want pictures!” Bianca shouted.

“What is it with everyone and pictures!?” Bart groaned.

“You both look so handsome and grown up!” Bianca smiled.

Jaime sighed but nudged him, Bart smiled as he looped his arm around Jaime’s waist and smiled at the camera.

“Later! We’ll be home at ten, Bart’s hanging out here tonight!” Jaime shouted as he steered him out of the house.

“Have fun!” he heard Bianca shout behind them.

“Thanks Mrs. Reyes!” Bart called out as he stumbled, struggling not to trip. “Dude, this is so crashing the mode,” he stated.

“You brought flowers!?” Jaime sputtered as they were now walking on the street.

“I was told that what you did to go to the dance.”

“For a date! Not a friend!” Jaime clarified.

“Oh.” Bart hadn’t thought of that, but he did like Jaime… perhaps this was a date? “Isthisadate?”

“Hm?”

“Never mind!” Bart squeaked.

“Did you try Pokemon Go!?” Jaime asked excitedly and they launched into a bated discussion about the Pokemon that Bart found adorable, and he wanted them all!

* * *

 

Jaime pretended he hadn’t heard Bart ask if this was a date, covering the blush up with a question about a topic Bart loved. However, the bug questioned him about his unsteady heart, and Jaime smiled at Bart’s contagious enthusiasm about Pokemon.


End file.
